The present invention generally relates to the field of shotgun sighting devices and, more particularly, an apparatus and method for providing an offset sighting plane for use by a visually impaired shotgunner who must sight the shotgun with the eye opposite the shoulder upon which the gun is mounted.
Typically, a right-handed shotgunner mounts the shotgun on his right shoulder, places his right cheek on the gunstock, and sights along the barrel of the shotgun with both eyes open. Such right-handed shotgunners are typically right-eye dominant. In such a case, the right eye controls the pointing of the gun barrel to allow the shotgun to align the barrel with the moving target. The opposite is true for left-handed shotgunners. A left-hand shotgunner is usually left-eye dominant. In that situation, the left-handed shotgunner mounts the shotgun on his left shoulder, places his left cheek on the gunstock, and sights along the barrel of the shotgun with both eyes open. The shotgunner""s left-eye controls the orientation of the barrel with the moving target.
Shotgunners who become visually impaired in their dominant shooting eye, whether right or left, face serious difficulties when mounting and sighting a shotgun in a conventional manner. For example, a right-handed gunner who is visually impaired in the right eye or who is left eye dominant must attempt to align the shotgun barrel with the target by means of his left eye, which is offset from the line of the barrel. This offset creates a false line of sight when the shotgunner attempts to align the target with the end of the shotgun barrel resulting in the alignment being off to the left.
Depending upon the distance of the moving target from the shotgunner, the alignment of the barrel and the target perceived by the shotgunner with a dominant opposite eye can be several feet either ahead or behind of the moving target than the actual alignment, depending upon the direction of target flight. This perceived alignment would cause the shot placement to be several feet off from the target and resulting in the shotgunner missing the target with the shot. To compensate for this phenomenon, a visually impaired shotgunner must learn to mount and shoot the gun from the opposite shoulder. It is difficult and sometimes impossible for some shotgunners to obtain the skill and coordination necessary to shoot in that fashion. Consequently, many visually impaired shotgunners are prevented or discouraged from engaging in shotgun sports.
The present invention is intended to provide an apparatus and method to facilitate the ability of a visual impaired shotgunner to mount a shotgun in either the right-hand or the left-hand shoulder position, as desired, and to utilize the eye adjacent to the shoulder that is opposite the gun mounting shoulder to align the shotgun barrel with the target. Thus, the apparatus is intended for use by those individuals that suffer lost or impaired vision in their once dominant eye and who can no longer properly sight down a shotgun barrel for proper alignment of the barrel and the target. It is also intended for use by those shotgunners that are left-eye dominant but are right-handed shotgunners or those that are right-eyed dominant but left-handed shotgunners. For the purposes of this description of Applicant""s invention the eye adjacent to the shoulder that is opposite the gun mounting shoulder of the gunner will be called the xe2x80x9copposite eyexe2x80x9d and shotgunners whose dominant eye or unimpaired eye is adjacent to the shoulder that is opposite the gun mounting shoulder of the gunner will be called xe2x80x9copposite eye gunnersxe2x80x9d.
The apparatus is comprised of a linear sighting plane to be mounted substantially parallel to a shotgun barrel in a manner that allows the sighting plane to be adjustably offset both horizontally and vertically with respect to the shotgun barrel. These horizontal and vertical offsets of the sighting plane from the shotgun barrel allow the sighting plane to be placed in alignment with the eye adjacent to the shoulder that is opposite the gun mounting shoulder of the gunner when the gunner is in shooting position, that is, the offsets allow the sighting plane to be placed in alignment with the opposite eye. Because the sighting plane of Applicant""s apparatus can be adjusted both horizontally and vertically with respect to the linear gun barrel, the use of the apparatus allows an opposite eye gunner to place in alignment the sighting plane, the target and the gunner""s opposite eye when the gunner places his cheek against the stock of the shotgun and, thus, facilitates a hit on the target when the shotgun is fired.
The sighting device is provided with sighting plane mounting brackets to hold the linear sighting plane in a desired offset position, both horizontally and vertically, with respect to the linear position of the barrel of the shotgun. This allows the user of the apparatus to adjust the position of the sighting plane with respect to the line of the shotgun barrel as desired in order to compensate for the physical differences that might be present between different shotgunners. For instance, because the distance between the centers of the two eyes of individual gunners may vary from gunner to gunner, the height of the opposite eye above the gun barrel when the gunner""s head is tilted against the shotgun stock will vary from gunner to gunner. The apparatus allows for adjustments to be made on the alignment of the sighting plane to account for those differences.
Another feature of Applicant""s invention is that the apparatus is reversible and thus may be positioned on either side of the shotgun barrel to accommodate both left-handed and right-handed gunners.
Still another feature of the apparatus is that it is readily attachable and detachable from the shotgun so that it may be moved from one shotgun to another or disassembled for storage.
Still another feature of the apparatus is that it allows a shotgunner to sight with his dominant eye even if the shotgunner chooses to use an opposite-handed gun. This occasionally occurs when a hunting outfitter provides the shotguns to be used on hunting trips. When semiautomatic shotguns are provided by an outfitter, left-handed shotguns for use by left-handed shotgunners or right-handed shotguns for use by right-handed shotgunners are often unavailable. Consequently, a shotgunner may be required to use an opposite-handed gun, that is a left-handed gunner may be required to use a right-handed shotgun or vice versa. A semiautomatic shotgun having side injection typically ejects spent shot shells and any associated powder residue to the side of the gunner away from the gunners face. An opposite-handed semiautomatic shotgun may eject spent shot shells and powder residue across the face of the gunner that can present a risk of harm to the gunner""s eyes. Use of Applicant""s apparatus on an opposite-handed shotgun will eliminate some of the risk associated with the ejected shot shells and powder residue produced by an opposite-handed shotgun because the gunner can mount the shotgun on the shoulder for which the shotgun is designed but still allow the gunner to sight with his dominant eye.